Automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, are devices that in the past were typically accessible to only emergency personnel due to their cost. However, with improved technology and the decreasing costs of manufacture, AEDs are now becoming commonplace in locales frequented by the public, e.g., malls, sports arenas, schools, government buildings, airplanes, etc. Typically AEDs are fairly small, hand-portable devices that are used relatively infrequently. Consequently, they may be misplaced and not locatable by a rescuer unless presented in some form of an identifiable emergency cabinet akin to a fire extinguisher cabinet. The cabinet preferably provides some type of alarm indicating that an emergency situation is at hand so that others may become involved or obtain additional help for the situation at hand.
One such AED cabinet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,501. The cabinet provides a defibrillator mount that is connected to an interior surface of the cabinet so as to present the defibrillator in a position that allows a full view of the defibrillator through a window of the cabinet. The cabinet additionally provides for an audible and visual alarm that is connected to an exterior surface of the cabinet. These alarms are activated via a switch that detects when the door of the cabinet has been opened; an open door produces the alarms. A key switch that enables or disables the door switch is also provided. In the circuit of the '501 patent the alarm switch is constantly monitored causing the circuit to constantly consume battery energy. This significantly affects the life of the battery and the reliability of the alarms.
While the '501 patent provides a useful identifiable emergency cabinet, it provides one that activates an alarm only upon the cabinet door being opened and does not address the situation wherein the glass panel of the door has been broken and the AED removed, or the situation of a non-doored cabinet that provides only a breakable panel for access to the AED. Further, the AED cabinet of the '501 patent provides an alarm circuit that constantly draws power making battery life a significant concern in the use of this cabinet.